Thursday, 27 March 2014

Kim Kallstrom made his debut on Tuesday night and little has been said about it in the aftermath of Mathieu Flamini's own goal. I though he had a very promising 16 minutes on the pitch as we finally got to see what he could do, after joining with a back injury.

I think the one thing I was struck by was his stature. I didn't realise he was tall. At just over 6ft 1, he does stand out in the Arsenal midfield. Clearly he's going to have to get used to how we play and the Premier League, but as debut's go, he didn't seem to put a foot wrong.

"For me, it felt really good coming on. I had a lot of time with the ball, I had some clean passes. I was involved and I'm just pleased to be out there playing.

"It's exciting, and it's like a dream come true to play for Arsenal in the Premier League. I'm just unhappy my debut didn't end in a win.

"Everything felt good for me, obviously except their last goal and the last minutes of the match."

I think the manager must be seriously considering using him between now and the end of the season, especially given the situation we have when it comes to injuries. Many believe that Mikel Arteta has looked tired, but I thought against Swansea he was one of the few players who was actually putting the work in and closing the opposition down.

There's going to come a stage though where Kallstrom can do a job for us. I don't see him starting against Manchester City, but I wouldn't be shocked if he were picked. It appears to me that we do need to freshen up the starting line up and with no sign of Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil or Jack Wilshere returning imminently, changes will have to be made with those who are on the bench or not involved what so ever.

The Daily Telegraph has been told by senior Arsenal officials they are worried that Arsene Wenger could quit at the end of the season and not sign the two year deal which is on the table. If the manager did walk away it would leave a lot of issues we'd need to solve in the summer of a World Cup, which wouldn't be easy.

I think at this point in time there is a real danger Wenger could quit. There are of course many within the fan base who believe his time is up, I'm not ready to join them. I believe we need to take a long hard look at the manager's position at the end of the season and not jump into any rash decisions.

Clearly losing three big away games doesn't help our ambitions. But I think after so long of being top of the league, some sections of our fan base believe the title was ours to lose. It wasn't. We were never the favourites, nor do we have a squad the size of Chelsea's or Manchester City's. And neither are we in Liverpool's situation of being dumped out of the two domestic cups and having only the title to focus on.

There are clearly issues which need to be addressed. We completely messed up last summer's transfer window and the last minute signing of Mesut Ozil papered over so many cracks. Player recruitment is something we've struggled with for years.

I don't think bringing back David Dein is the answer. He's been away from football for seven years. But we do need a better way of identifying players and then getting the deals done.

And one player we look set to have to replace in the summer is Bacary Sagna, who The Guardian reveal has been offered a three year deal by Manchester City. Personally I think we should match whatever they are offering the Frenchman. I'd love to see him see out his career in the red and white of Arsenal.